Police Log: Man Arrested For Robbing Would-Be Pot Sellers

Woonsocket Police arrested Hector Villegas-Alvarez, 32, of 213 South Main St., Apt. 1f, in the area of 248 River St. Jan. 14, charging him in the robbery of one man who thought he and his friends were showing up to sell marijuana.

At about 8:35 p.m., according to Officer Gregory Klocek's report, he and two other officers responded to River Street for a report of an assault and robbery, with four men fleeing the area.

When Klocek arrived, he saw a 16-year-old boy sitting on the ground with his T-shirt held to his head, which was bleeding. He said he'd been struck with an object, but didn't know what. He was transported to Landmark Medical Center.

A second person on the scene, Kyle Masse, 19, said they'd been robbed by several men after stopping to plug an address into a GPS. Five men surrounded the car, one with a handgun, he said.

A third person on the scene, John Robert, 26, confirmed they'd been robbed.

While speaking with Masse, Klocek received word via radio from another officer who had caught Alvarez, later identified as the attacker, who was carrying a pellet gun and a knife.

At the station, Robert told police the three had been at the location to sell "weed". A few seconds after parking, about five people approached the car. Robert, who was sitting in the rear passenger side with his window down, said one of the men placed a silver handgun with black handle to the side of his head, and ordered him to empty his pockets. Robert did so with his front pockets, but the man pulled him out of the car, also taking his wallet from his back pocket, which had $60 in it. He said he sat back in the vehicle, seeing the man strike the 16-year-old in the back of the head with something before running down River Street. 

Woonsocket Police charged Alvarez with two counts of first degree robbery, felony assault, carrying a dangerous weapon in the commission of a crime, carrying a knife while in commission of a crime, all felonies, and posession of weapons other than firearms, a misdemeanor.